[William Darbyshire Home Movies: Reel 3]

William (Billy) Darbyshire (1903–1979) was a film enthusiast and traveller who emigrated with his parents from England to Australia in 1911. It may have been this early trip that influenced a young Billy to travel the world later in life and film his travels as he went.

First travelling to Africa for work and to various destinations whilst in service during WWII, Billy would continue to travel after the war throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific and North America. It was in this period, during the 1960s, that he purchased an 8mm movie camera which resulted in a collection of films that capture his travels, taking in the sites of the world from Asia to Europe and Africa to the Americas.

The films were originally made using Standard 8mm film. The quality of the film can be a little challenging as it is jumpy, damaged and scratched at times.

In this film, Billy travels to Bangkok, Thailand visiting temples and then on to Burma (Myanmar) showing the grandeur of Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon (Yangon). He also visits Singapore and Calcutta Madras.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:04:00 passengers enjoying the sun, sitting on deckchairs drinking tea or coffee on board ship
00:00:02:00 a sunset scene
00:00:50:00 a bay setting with views of a village, temples, spires and bells
00:02:30:00 close ups of dramatic looking spires
00:03:07:00 pagodas, rooftops, a river and temples
00:03:45:00 a lone monk looking at the camera
00:04:10:00 a monk poses outside a temple and walks toward the camera
00:04:30:00 river scenes including a lovely walk bridge
00:04:55:00 views of a public garden
00:04:59:00 airplane on the tarmac
00:05:05:00 clouds being filmed from inside a plane
00:05:17:00 camera films scenes looking down at houses from a plane
00:05:47:00 busy street scene
00:05:50:00 views of the grand Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar (Burma) from different angles
00:06:54:00 a white, colonial style government building with a statue of a military person mounted on a horse
00:07:25:00 steam train
00:07:34:00 beach scenes
00:07:50:00 views of the countryside
00:07:55:00 a clocktower
00:08:17:00 a ‘dhow’ sailboat with a wonderful large sail
00:08:36:00 a long, large traditional boat on the sand at a beach
00:09:34:00 riverbank scenes
00:09:38:00 passenger ship and military ships in a bay as well as a carrier with a helicopter taking off from the deck
00:10:20:00 tourist buses
00:10:30:00 cars in city streets and shady trees in the street
00:10:47:00 large cathedral
00:10:55:00 great view of ship between buildings at the end of a street.
00:11:06:00 passenger ship in a dock area
00:11:43:00 views taken from a deck on board ship whilst coming into dock. A military band can be seen getting closer and closer.
00:12:04:00 scenes of life on a passenger ship – strolling, sunbathing, deck games